1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transmitting/receiving a signal in a wireless communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving a Reference Signal (RS) which does not generate inter-cell interference in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a next generation wireless communication system, a cell radius becomes very small in comparison with a cellular environment according to the related art. Further, in a next generation wireless communication system, cells are non-uniformly distributed as a result of operations (e.g., the existence or deployment) of various cells such as a femto cell, and the like. Under such an environment, inter-cell interference is the largest cause of deterioration of a capability of a User Equipment (UE) according to a packet error.
In order to solve an interference problem in the wireless communication system, an interference signal and channel information on the interference signal should be accurately estimated. To this end, a Reference Signal (RS) may be transmitted on an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) domain in the wireless communication system (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)).
As an example, the RS may include a UE-specific Reference Signal (URS). The URS refers to an RS used in a transmission mode using beamforming In general, the URS is transmitted to improve a capability of each UE and is transmitted using a Resource Block (RB) to which a data signal is allocated in a corresponding OFDM signal.
The URS of each cell is transmitted using the same resource in the wireless communication system. For example, among a plurality of cells, the URS of a first cell and the URS of a second cell corresponding to an adjacent cell of the first cell are always transmitted using the same resource. Because an inter-cell interference problem according to URS transmission is continuously generated in the wireless communication system, a channel estimation capability of the UE within each cell may deteriorate.
Accordingly, a method of solving the inter-cell interference problem due to the URS transmission should be used in the wireless communication system. However, when the method is used, complexity according to signal transmission/reception increases.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus of fundamentally solving the inter-cell interference problem. For example, a need exists for a method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving a Reference Signal (RS) which does not generate inter-cell interference in a wireless communication system.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.